I’ve been a fan of French actress/singer Vanessa Paradis since her self-titled 1992 album was released in the United States. The record was produced by Lenny Kravitz and all 10 songs on it are perfection. 19 years later, Vanessa Paradis (who is now best known as the mother of Johnny Depp’s children) announced her first shows ever performed in the US. The first of her two dates was February 16, 2010 at Town Hall in New York. The second takes place in a few days in Los Angeles. The night started off on a disappointing note for me as Vanessa arrived to her first ever concert in this country with her head down and didn’t look up or acknowledge fans as she entered the building. More on her exit in a few moments. As hard as that is to get over for someone like me who not only goes to a concert to see a performance but is also very curious as to how the stars treat their fans, I’ve liked her music for too long to let that get the best of me.

Vanessa Paradis

Vanessa Paradis may not have the best vocal range on the planet, but her signature style of crooning in both French and English was in full force tonight. Her voice sounds angelic and her performance was sexy as hell! She looked and sounded amazing and though the show was not sold out, the audience showed Vanessa that we do not want another 19 years to pass before she plays live for us again! Her outfits were very well decorated and as she shimmied to the music, I could not help but think – Johnny Depp is a lucky man! I am not familiar with all of her music, but off her self-titled album, she played “Sunday Mondays” and “Be My Baby” (my favorite track off that record) with totally different arrangements. She also performed covers of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and Sam Cooke’s “What A Wonderful World.” Other notable songs were “Joe Le Taxi,” “Marilyn and John,” “Maxou,” “Dis Lui Toi Que Je T’aime” and “Tandem,” which were both written by Serge Gainsbourg.

Vanessa Paradis

As I said before, the crowd went wild and Vanessa Paradis came back for two encores (totalling 5 songs). She told the crowd many times how great it was to be playing for us and how thankful she was to be performing. Knowing that she was not in the slightest bit friendly on the way in, I thought she might be in a better mood after her triumphant show. I was wrong. She exited the theater with Johnny Depp and neither one of them even looked up. They made a bee-line to their car and ignored everyone. That is extra disappointing because Johnny Depp is usually extremely nice and I was the only person out in the crowd with the import single to “Sunday Mondays” hopeful for a signature. While I enjoyed the performance a lot, I cannot help but feel that Vanessa’s love for the audience was completely disingenuous.

21 years ago today on February 16, 1990, American artist Keith Haring died of complications from AIDS. Keith Haring is one of my favorite artists. I have always admired the vivid colors he used, the positive messages in his work and reading from pretty much every source that he was one of the nicest people on the planet. If you ever get the chance to read his journals, which are collected in the book “Journals” by Keith Haring, I recommend it. You’ll see the writings from a man who always questioned where the borders were and tried to break them down. Like so many of the greats, Keith Haring exited this planet too soon. 21 years on, his voice is missed, but never forgotten.